Lettuce variety nun 09111 ltl

ABSTRACT

The disclosure relates to a new and distinct variety of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL as well as seeds and plants and heads or leaves thereof. NUN 09111 LTL is a green Multileaf lettuce variety of medium size for the spring, summer, and autumn seasons, comprising resistance to Downy Mildew (Bremia lactucae) isolates Bl:16-35 EU and Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/743,961 filed on Oct. 10, 2018, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure relates to the field of plant breeding and, morespecifically, to the development of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. Thedisclosure further relates to vegetative reproductions of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL, methods for tissue culture of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL, and to phenotypic variants of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.The disclosure also relates to progeny of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTLand the hybrid varieties obtained by crossing lettuce variety NUN 09111LTL as a parent line with plants of other varieties or parent lines.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The goal of vegetable breeding is to combine various desirable traits ina single variety. Such desirable traits may include greater yield,resistance to diseases, insects or other pests, tolerance to heat anddrought, better agronomic quality, higher nutritional value, enhancedgrowth rate, and improved shelf life.

The development of commercial lettuce cultivars or varieties requiresthe crossing of lettuce plants, and the evaluation of the crosses.Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection are examples of breedingmethods used to develop cultivars from breeding populations. Breedingprograms combine desirable traits from two or more varieties or variousbroad-based sources into breeding pools from which cultivars aredeveloped by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The newcultivars are crossed with other varieties and the inbred lines orhybrids from these crosses are evaluated to determine which havecommercial potential.

All cultivated forms of lettuce belong to the highly polymorphic speciesLactuca sativa that is grown for its edible head and leaves. Lactucasativa is in the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. Lettuce is related tochicory, sunflower, aster, dandelion, artichoke, and chrysanthemum. L.sativa is one of about 300 species in the genus Lactuca. There are manytypes of lettuce, and new types are constantly in development. Types oflettuce include Cutting/Leaf, Iceberg/Crisphead, Cos or Romaine,Batavian, Salinas Group, Latin, Butterhead, Great Lakes Group, Eastern(Ithaca) Group, Bibb, Vanguard Group, Multileaf, or Stem lettuce.Lettuce is typically consumed fresh and occasionally as a cookedvegetable. It is popularly used in salads, wraps, and sandwiches.

Fresh lettuce is available in the United States year-round although thegreatest supply is from May through October. For planting purposes, thelettuce season is typically divided into three categories, early, midand late, with the coastal areas planting from January to August, andthe desert regions planting from August to December. California andArizona are the two largest producers of lettuce in the United States.

Changes in lifestyle primarily due to increasing health awarenessresults to growing demand for healthy convenience food. Supermarkets,restaurants, catering firms, and convenience stores are constantlylooking for more colorful garnishing for sandwiches, wraps, andready-to-eat snacks such as salads. The changing food and consumertrends present opportunities for breeding companies to develop newvarieties with specific shapes of leaves, specific average size ofleaves, prominent color, glossiness, taste, and a wide variety oftexture. Other breeding objectives include disease or pest resistance,yield, prolonged shelf life, and suitability to climatic requirements.

SUMMARY OF VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure provides for a lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, productsthereof, and methods of using the same. NUN 09111 LTL is a greenMultileaf lettuce variety of medium size for the spring, summer, andautumn seasons and is suitable for growing in the open field.

In one aspect, the disclosure provides a seed of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL, wherein a representative sample of said seed has beendeposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43496. The disclosure alsoprovides for a plurality of seeds of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. Thelettuce seed of variety NUN 09111 LTL may be provided as an essentiallyhomogeneous population of lettuce seed. The population of seed oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL may be particularly defined as anessentially free from other seed. The seed population may be grown intoplants to provide an essentially homogeneous population of lettuceplants described herein.

The disclosure also provides a plant grown from a seed of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL and a plant part thereof.

The disclosure also provides a lettuce head and/or a lettuce leafproduced on a plant grown from a seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

The disclosure also provides a seed growing or grown on a plant oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (e.g., produced after pollination of theflower of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL).

In another aspect, the disclosure provides for a plant part obtainedfrom lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, wherein said plant part is: a leaf,a part of a leaf, a head, a part of a head, a fruit, a part of a fruit,pollen, an ovule, a cell, a petiole, a shoot or a part thereof, a stemor a part thereof, a root or a part thereof, a root tip, a cutting, aseed, a part of a seed, seed coat or another maternal tissue which ispart of a seed grown on said variety, a hypocotyl, a cotyledon, apistil, an anther, or a flower or a part thereof. Heads and leaves areparticularly important plant parts. Such plant parts may be suitable forsexual reproduction, vegetative reproduction, or a tissue culture. Inanother aspect, the plant part obtained from variety NUN 09111 LTL is acell, optionally a cell in a cell or tissue culture. That cell may begrown into a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides for an inbred variety of NUN09111 LTL.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides for a progeny of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL. In another aspect, the disclosure provides aplant or a progeny retaining all or all but one, two, or three of the“distinguishing characteristics” of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, andmethods of producing that plant or progeny.

The disclosure also provides a plant or a progeny having all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL, when grown under the same environmental conditions. Inanother aspect, the plant or progeny has all or all but one, two, orthree of the physiological and morphological characteristics of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL when grown under the same environmental conditionsand e.g., evaluated at significance levels of 1%, 5%, or 10%significance (which can be expressed as a p-value) for quantitativecharacteristics, wherein a representative sample of seed of variety NUN09111 LTL has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43496. Inanother aspect, the plant or progeny has all or all but one, two, orthree of the physiological and morphological characteristics as listedin Tables 1-4 of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL when measured under thesame environmental conditions and e.g., evaluated at significance levelsof 1%, 5%, or 10% significance (which can also be expressed as a pvalue) for quantitative characteristics.

In another aspect, a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL or a progenythereof has 6, 7, or more or all of the following distinguishingcharacteristics when compared to Reference Variety as shown in Table5: 1) ______; 2) ______; 3) ______; 4) ______; 5) ______; and 6) ______,when grown under the same environmental conditions.

In another aspect, a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, a partthereof, or a progeny thereof comprises resistance to Downy Mildew(Bremia lactucae) isolates Bl:16-35 EU, and Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV),measured according to UPOV standards described in TG/13/11 and as shownin Table 4.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a cell culture of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL and a plant regenerated from lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL, wherein the plant has all of the characteristics of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL when grown under the same environmentalconditions, as well as methods for culturing and regenerating lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL. Alternatively, a regenerated plant may have onecharacteristic that is different from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

The disclosure also provides a vegetatively propagated plant of varietyNUN 09111 LTL having all or all but one, two, or three of themorphological and physiological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL when grown under the same environmental conditions as well asmethods for vegetatively propagating lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of producing alettuce plant comprising crossing lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL withitself or another lettuce variety and selecting a progeny lettuce plantfrom said crossing or selfing.

The disclosure also provides a method of producing a lettuce plantderived from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

In further aspect, the disclosure provides a method of producing hybridlettuce seed comprising crossing a first parent lettuce plant with asecond parent lettuce plant and harvesting the resultant hybrid lettuceseed, wherein said first parent lettuce plant or second parent lettuceplant is lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. Also provided is a hybridlettuce seed produced from crossing a first parent lettuce plant with asecond parent lettuce plant and harvesting the resultant hybrid lettuceseed, wherein said first parent lettuce plant or second parent lettuceplant is lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. Moreover, a hybrid lettuce plantgrown from the hybrid lettuce seed is provided.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of introducing asingle locus conversion into a plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL, wherein arepresentative sample of said seed has been deposited under AccessionNumber NCIMB 43496, wherein the plant otherwise retains all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL, and wherein the single locus conversion confers malesterility, yield, storage properties, color, enhanced nutritionalquality, male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pestresistance, disease resistance, environmental stress tolerance, modifiedcarbohydrate metabolism, or modified protein metabolism, or the mutationoccurs in any of the following genes: Ferulate-5-hydrxylase, dmr1, dmr6,NCED4, PAL, PPO.

The disclosure also provides a method of producing a modified lettuceplant, wherein the method comprises mutating a target gene in a lettuceplant or plant part of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, wherein arepresentative sample of said seed has been deposited under AccessionNumber NCIMB 43496, and wherein the mutated plant otherwise retains allof the physiological and morphological characteristics of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL and contains the desired trait.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a container comprising theplant, plant part, or seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

Also provided is a food, a feed, or processed product comprising a plantpart of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the leaves of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

FIG. 2 shows the plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

DEFINITIONS

“Lettuce” refers herein to plants of the species Lactuca sativa L. Themost commonly eaten parts of a lettuce plant are the head or a leaf. Thehead comprises a core and leaves, which may be divided in inner andouter leaves.

“Cultivated lettuce” refers to plants of Lactuca sativa (e.g.,varieties, breeding lines or cultivars of the species L. sativa as wellas crossbreds thereof, or crossbreds with other Lactuca sativa species,or even with other Lactuca species), cultivated by humans and havinggood agronomic characteristics.

“Leaf lettuce” or “cutting lettuce” refers to a type of lettuce havingvery loose leaves that does not form a head.

The terms “lettuce plant designated NUN 09111 LTL,” “NUN 09111 LTL,”“inbred NUN 09111,” “09111 LTL,” or “lettuce 09111” are usedinterchangeably herein and refer to a lettuce plant of variety NUN 09111LTL, representative seed of has been deposited under Accession NumberNCIMB 43496.

A “seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL” refers to a lettuce seed whichcan be grown into a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, wherein arepresentative sample of viable seeds of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTLhas been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43496. A seed can be inany stage of maturity, for example, a mature, viable seed, or animmature non-viable seed. A seed comprises an embryo and maternaltissues.

An “embryo of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL” refers to an embryo aspresent in a seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, a representativesample of said seed of NUN 09111 LTL having been deposited underAccession Number NCIMB 43496.

A “seed grown on lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL” refers to a seed grownon a mature plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL or inside a fruit of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL. The “seed grown on lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL”contains tissues and DNA of the maternal parent, lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL. The “seed grown on lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL” contains anF1 embryo. When said seed is planted, it grows into a first generationprogeny plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL. Since NUN 09111 LTL is an inbredvariety and thus highly homozygous, the set of chromosomes inherited bythe first generation is predictable.

An “essentially homogeneous population of lettuce seed” is a populationof seeds where at least 77%, 98%, 99% or more of the total population ofseed are seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

An “essentially homogeneous population of lettuce plants” is apopulation of plants where at least 97%, 97%, 99% or more of the totalpopulation of plants are plants of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

The phrase “essentially free from other seed” refers to a population ofseeds where less than 3%, 2%, 1%, or even less, of the total populationof seed is seed that is not a lettuce seed or, in another option, lessthan 3%, 2%, 1%, or less, of the total population of seed is seed thatis not seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

“USDA descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors described forlettuce in the “Objective description of Variety—Lettuce (Lactuca sativaL.),” as published by U.S. Department of Agriculture, AgriculturalMarketing Service, Science and Technology, Plant Variety ProtectionOffice, Beltsville, Md. 20705 and which can be downloaded from theworld-wide web at ams.usda.gov/ underservices/plant-variety-protection/pvpo-c-forms under lettuce. “Non-USDAdescriptors” are other descriptors suitable for describing lettuce.

“UPOV descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors described forlettuce in the “Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness,Uniformity and Stability,” TG/13/11 (Geneva 2006, last updated 2017 Apr.5), as published by UPOV (International Union for the Protection of NewVarieties and Plants) and which can be downloaded from the world-wideweb at upov.int/ under edocs/tgdocs/en/tg013.pdf, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. Likewise, “UPOV methods” todetermine specific parameters for the characterization of lettuce aredescribed at upov.int.

“RHS” or “RHS color” refers to the color chart of the RoyalHorticultural Society (UK), which publishes a botanical color chartquantitatively identifying colors according to a defined numberingsystem. The chart may be purchased from Royal Horticulture SocietyEnterprise Ltd RHS Garden; Wisley, Woking; Surrey GU236QB, UK, e.g., theRHS color chart 2007.

“Reference Variety” refers herein to variety NUN 9005 LT, a variety fromNunhems B. V. with commercial name Multy, which has been planted in atrial together with lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. The characteristicsof lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL were compared with the characteristicsof the Reference Variety as shown in Tables 2 and 3. The diseaseresistance of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL and the Reference Varietyare shown in Table 4. The distinguishing characteristics between lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL and the Reference Variety are shown in Table 5.

“Plant” includes the whole plant or any parts or derivatives thereof,preferably having the same genetic makeup as the plant from which it isobtained.

“Plant part” includes any part of a plant, such as a plant organ (e.g.,harvested or non-harvested fruits), a plant cell, a plant protoplast, aplant cell tissue culture or a tissue culture from which a whole plantcan be regenerated, a plant cell that is intact in a plant, a clone, amicropropagation, plant callus, a plant cell clump, a plant transplant,a vegetative propagation, a fruit, a harvested fruit, a part of a fruit,a leaf, a part of a leaf, pollen, an ovule, an embryo, a petiole, ashoot or a part thereof, a stem or a part thereof, a root or a partthereof, a root tip, a cutting, a seed, a part of a seed, a hypocotyl, acotyledon, a scion, a graft, a stock, a rootstock, a pistil, an anther,or a flower. Seed can be mature or immature. Pollen or ovules may beviable or non-viable. Also, any developmental stage is included, such asseedlings, cuttings prior or after rooting, mature plants or leaves.Alternatively, a plant part may also include a plant seed whichcomprises one or two sets of chromosomes derived from the parent plant(e.g., from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL). An F1 progeny produced fromself-pollination of the inbred variety NUN 09111 LTL will thus comprisetwo sets of chromosomes derived from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL,while an F1 progeny derived from cross-fertilization of NUN 09111 LTLwill comprise only one set of chromosomes from lettuce variety NUN 09111LTL and the other set of chromosomes from the other parent.

“Cotyledon” refers to one of the first leaves of the embryo of a seedplant.

“Head” as used herein refers to lettuce heads, i.e., the plant withoutthe root system, for example, substantially all harvested leaves.Encompassed are immature leaves (e.g., “baby leaf”) and mature leaves.

The “base” of a plant is the part of a lettuce plant where the leavesare attached to the root system of the plant.

“Core length” of the internal lettuce stem is measured from the base ofthe cut and trimmed head to the tip of the stem.

“Core Length to Head Diameter Ratio (CLHD Ratio)” refers to the meancore length/head diameter ratio. It is calculated by dividing the meancore length with the mean head diameter. This is an indication of thehead shape and of the ability of a lettuce plant to reduce the amount ofsurface which is on or close to the ground.

“Head weight” refers to the mean weight of saleable lettuce head, cut,and trimmed to market specifications.

“Head diameter” refers to the mean diameter of the cut and trimmed head,sliced vertically, and measured at the widest point perpendicular to thestem.

“Head height” refers to the mean height of the cut and trimmed head,sliced vertically, and measured from the base of the cut stem to theleaf tip.

“Harvested plant material” refers herein to plant parts (e.g., leaves orheads detached from the whole plant) which have been collected forfurther storage and/or further use.

“Harvested seeds” refers to seeds harvested from a line or variety,e.g., produced after self-fertilization or cross-fertilization andcollected.

“First water date” refers to the date the seed first receives adequatemoisture to germinate. This can and often does equal the planting date.

“Maturity date” refers to the stage when the plants are of full size oroptimum weight, in marketable form or shape to be of commercial oreconomic value. This is also the time when measuring parameters of“mature” leaves.

“Yield” means the total weight of all lettuce heads or leaves harvestedper hectare of a particular line or variety. It is understood that“yield” expressed as weight of all lettuce heads or leaves harvested perhectare can be obtained by multiplying the number of plants per hectaretimes the “yield per plant.”

“Marketable yield” means the total weight of all marketable lettuceheads or leaves harvested per hectare of a particular line or variety,e.g., lettuce heads or leaves suitable for being sold for freshconsumption, having good color, glossiness size and texture and no orvery low levels of deficiencies. A “marketable lettuce head or leaf” isa head or leaf that has commercial value.

A plant having “all the physiological and morphological characteristics”of a referred-to-plant means a plant showing the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the referred-to-plant when grown underthe same environmental conditions, preferably in the same experiment;the referred-to-plant can be a plant from which it was derived, e.g.,the progenitor plant, the progenitor parent, the recurrent parent, theplant used for tissue- or cell culture, etc. A physiological ormorphological characteristic can be a numerical characteristic or anon-numerical characteristic. In one aspect, a plant has “all but one,two or three of the physiological and morphological characteristics” ofa referred-to-plant, or “all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics” of Tables 1-4 or “all or all but one, two or three ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics” of Tables 1-4.

The physiological and/or morphological characteristics mentioned aboveare commonly evaluated at significance levels of 1%, 5%, or 10% if theyare numerical (quantitative), or for having an identical degree (ortype) if not numerical (not quantitative), if measured under the sameenvironmental conditions. For example, a progeny plant or a single locusconverted plant or a mutated plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL mayhave one or more (or all) of the essential physiological and/ormorphological characteristics of said variety listed in Tables 1-4, asdetermined at the 5% significance level (i.e., p<0.05), when grown underthe same environmental conditions.

“Distinguishing characteristics” or “distinguishing morphological and/orphysiological characteristics” refers herein to the characteristicswhich distinguish a new variety from other lettuce varieties (i.e., aredifferent), when grown under the same environmental conditions. Thedistinguishing characteristics between lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL andthe Reference Variety are described Table 5. When comparing lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL with different varieties, the distinguishingcharacteristics will be different. In one aspect, the distinguishingcharacteristics may therefore include at least one, two, three or more(or all) of the characteristics listed in Tables 1-4. All numericaldistinguishing characteristics are statistically significantly differentat p<0.05 between lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL and the other variety(e.g., the Reference Variety).

Lettuce Variety NUN 09111 LTL has the following distinguishingcharacteristics when compared to the Reference Variety as shown in Table5: 1) ______: 2) ______; 3) ______; 4) ______; 5) ______; and 6) ______,when grown under the same environmental conditions.

Thus, a lettuce plant “comprising the distinguishing characteristics oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL” (such as a progeny plant) refers hereinto a plant which does not differ from said variety in the distinguishingcharacteristics above. Therefore, in one aspect, the disclosure providesa plant that does not differ from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL in thedistinguishing characteristics above.

Similarity and differences between two different plant lines orvarieties can be determined by comparing the number of morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics that are the same (i.e.,statistically not significantly different) or that are different (i.e.,statistically significantly different) between the two plant lines orvarieties when grown under the same environmental conditions. Anumerical characteristic is considered to be “the same” when the valuefor a numeric characteristic is not significantly different at the 1%(p<0.01) or 5% (p<0.05) significance level, using one way Analysis ofvariance (ANOVA) or T-test Paired Two Sample for Means, standard methodsknown to the skilled person. Non-numerical or “degree” or “type”characteristic is considered “the same” when the values have the same“degree” or “type” when scored using USDA and/or UPOV descriptors, ifthe plants are grown under the same environmental conditions.

“Variety” or “cultivar” means a plant grouping within a single botanicaltaxon of the lowest known rank.

“Plant line” is, for example, an inbred variety or a breeding line whichcan be used to develop one or more varieties. Both are typically highlyhomozygous. Progeny obtained by selfing such a plant line has the samephenotype as its parents.

“Inbred variety” refers to an inbred (nearly homozygous) line or seedsthereof. For example, the (nearly homozygous) plant is self-pollinatedor the (nearly homozygous) female parent is pollinated with pollen ofthe same plant line to produce inbred seeds on the female parent.

“Progeny” as used herein refers to a plant obtained from a plantdesignated NUN 09111 LTL. A progeny may be obtained by regeneration ofcell culture or tissue culture or parts of a plant of said variety orselfing of a plant of said variety or by producing seeds of a plant ofsaid variety. In further aspects, progeny may also encompass plantsobtained from crossing of at least one plant of said variety withanother lettuce plant of the same or another variety or line, or wildlettuce plants. A progeny may comprise a mutation or a transgene. A“first generation progeny” is the progeny is directly derived from,obtained from, obtainable from or derivable from the parent plant by,e.g., traditional breeding methods (selfing and/or cross-pollinating) orregeneration (optionally combined with transformation or mutation).Thus, a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL is the male parent, thefemale parent, or both of a first generation progeny of lettuce varietyNUN 09111 LTL. Progeny may have all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL whengrown under the same environmental conditions. Using methods such asbackcrossing, recurrent selection, mutation or transformation, one ormore specific characteristics may be introduced into said variety, or toa plant comprising all but one, two, or three of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

The term “traditional breeding techniques” encompasses herein crossing,selfing, selection, doubled haploid production, embryo rescue,protoplast fusion, marker assisted selection, mutation breeding etc. asknown to the breeder (e.g., methods other than geneticmodification/transformation/transgenic methods, e.g., gene editing), bywhich, for example, a genetically heritable trait can be transferredfrom one lettuce line or variety to another.

“Tissue Culture” refers to a composition comprising isolated cells ofthe same or a different type or a collection of such cells organizedinto parts of a plant. Tissue culture of various tissues of lettuce andregeneration of plants therefrom is well known and widely published(see, e.g., Teng et al., HortScience. 1992, 27(9): 1030-1032; Teng etal., HortScience. 1993, 28(6): 669-1671; Zhang et al., Journal ofGenetics and Breeding. 1992, 46(3): 287-290). Similarly, methods ofpreparing cell cultures are known in the art.

“Vegetative propagation,” “vegetative reproduction,” or “clonalpropagation” are used interchangeably herein and mean the method oftaking part of a plant and allowing that plant part to form at leastroots, and also refer to the plant or plantlet obtained by that method.Optionally, the vegetative propagation is grown into a mature plant.

“Regeneration” refers to the development of a plant from cell culture ortissue culture or vegetative propagation.

“Crossing” refers to the mating of two parent plants. The termencompasses “cross-pollination” and “selfing.”

“Selfing” refers to self-pollination of a plant, i.e., the transfer ofpollen from the anther to the stigma of the same plant. Lettuce is anobligate self-pollination species, which means that pollen is shedbefore stigma emergence, assuring 100% self-fertilization. Therefore, inorder to maximize crossing, a method of misting may be used to wash thepollen off prior to fertilization to assure crossing or hybridization.

“Cross-pollination” refers to the fertilization by the union of twogametes from different plants.

“Backcrossing” is a traditional breeding technique used to introduce atrait into a plant line or variety. The plant containing the trait iscalled the donor plant and the plant into which the trait is transferredis called the recurrent parent. An initial cross is made between thedonor parent and the recurrent parent to produce a progeny plant.Progeny plants which have the trait are then crossed to the recurrentparent. After several generations of backcrossing and/or selfing therecurrent parent comprises the trait of the donor. The plant generatedin this way may be referred to as a “single trait converted plant.” Thetechnique can also be used on a parental line of a hybrid.

The terms “gene converted,” “conversion plant,” or “single locusconverted plant” in this context refer to lettuce plants which aredeveloped by traditional backcrossing techniques, e.g., backcrossing, orvia genetic engineering (e.g., gene editing) or through mutationbreeding, wherein essentially all of the desired morphological andphysiological characteristics of parent variety or line are recovered,in addition to the one or more characteristics introduced into theparent via e.g., backcrossing technique (optionally including reversesynthesis of breeding line). It is understood that only the addition ofa further characteristic (e.g., addition of gene conferring a furthercharacteristic, such as a disease resistance gene), but also thereplacement/modification of an existing characteristic by a differentcharacteristic is encompassed herein (e.g., a mutant allele of a genecan modify the phenotype of a characteristic).

Likewise, a “Single Locus Converted (Conversion) Plant” refers to plantsdeveloped by plant breeding techniques comprising or consisting ofmutation breeding and/or by genetic transformation (e.g., gene editing)and/or by traditional breeding techniques, such as backcrossing, whereinessentially all of the desired morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of a lettuce variety are recovered in addition to thecharacteristics of the single locus having been transferred into thevariety via the above-mentioned techniques, or wherein a morphologicaland physiological characteristic of the variety has beenreplaced/modified in the variety. In case of a hybrid, the gene may beintroduced, or modified, in the male or female parental line.

“Transgene” refers to a genetic locus comprising a DNA sequence whichhas been introduced into the genome of a lettuce plant bytransformation. A plant comprising a transgene stably integrated intoits genome is referred to as “transgenic plant.”

“Locus” (plural loci) refers to the specific location of a gene or DNAsequence on a chromosome. A locus may confer a specific trait.

“Genotype” refers to the genetic composition of a cell or organism.

“Allele” refers to one or more alternative forms of a gene locus. All ofthese loci relate to one trait. Sometimes, different alleles can resultin different observable phenotypic traits, such as differentpigmentation. However, many variations at the genetic level result inlittle or no observable variation.

As used herein, the terms “resistance” and “tolerance” are usedinterchangeably to describe plants that show no symptoms orsignificantly reduced symptoms to a specified biotic pest, pathogen,abiotic influence or environmental condition compared to a susceptibleplant. These terms are optionally also used to describe plants showingsome symptoms but that are still able to produce marketable product withan acceptable yield.

“Average” refers herein to the arithmetic mean.

The term “mean” refers to the arithmetic mean of several measurements.The mean, if not indicated otherwise within this application, refers tothe arithmetic mean of measurements on at least 15 different, randomlyselected plants of a variety or line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure relates to a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL,wherein a representative sample of seeds of said variety has beendeposited under Budapest Treaty, with Accession Number NCIMB 43496. NUN09111 LTL is a green Multileaf lettuce variety of medium size for thespring, summer, and autumn seasons and is suitable in growing in theopen field.

The disclosure relates to a seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL,wherein a representative sample of said seed has been deposited underthe Budapest Treaty with Accession Number NCIMB 43496.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides for a plant part of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL, preferably a head or a leaf, a representativesample of seed from said variety has been deposited under AccessionNumber NCIMB 43496.

In one aspect, a seed or a plurality of seeds of said variety arepackaged into a container of any size or type (e.g., bags, cartons,cans, etc.). The seeds may be pelleted prior to packing (to form pillsor pellets) and/or may be disinfected, primed and/or treated withvarious compounds, such as seed coating or crop protection compounds.The seed produces a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

Also provided is a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, or a head ora leaf or other plant part thereof, produced from a seed, wherein arepresentative sample of said seeds has been deposited under theBudapest Treaty, with Accession Number NCIMB 43496.

The disclosure also provides a plant grown from a seed of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL and a plant part thereof.

The disclosure also provides a lettuce head and/or a lettuce leafproduced on a plant grown from a seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

Also provided is a plant part obtained from variety NUN 09111 LTL,wherein said plant part is a leaf, a part of a leaf, a head, a part of ahead, a fruit, a part of a fruit, pollen, an ovule, a cell, a petiole, ashoot or a part thereof, a stem or a part thereof, a root or a partthereof, a root tip, a cutting, a seed, a part of a seed, seed coat, oranother maternal tissue which is part of a seed grown on a said variety,a hypocotyl, a cotyledon, a pistil, an anther, or a flower or a partthereof. Heads and leaves are particularly important plant parts. Suchplant parts may be suitable for sexual reproduction (e.g., pollen, aflower, an ovary, an ovule, an embryo, etc.), vegetative reproduction(e.g., a cutting, a root, a stem a cell, a protoplast, a leaf, acotyledon, a meristem, etc.), or tissue culture (e.g., a leaf, a pollen,an embryo, a cotyledon, a hypocotyl, a cell, a root, a root tip, ananther, a flower, a seed, a stem, etc.). In a further aspect, the plantpart obtained from variety NUN 09111 LTL is a cell, optionally a cell ina cell or tissue culture. The cell may be grown into a plant of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL. A part of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (or of aprogeny of that variety or of a plant having all of the physiologicaland morphological characteristics but one, two, or three of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL) further encompasses any cells, tissues, organsobtainable from the seedlings or plants in any stage of maturity.

The disclosure also provides for a food, a feed product, or a processedproduct comprising or consisting of a plant part described herein.Preferably, the plant part is a lettuce head or leaf or a part thereofand/or an extract from a leaf or another plant part described hereincomprising at least one cell of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. The foodor feed product may be fresh or processed, e.g., dried, grinded,powdered, pickled, chopped, cooked, roasted, in a sauce, in a sandwich,pasted, pureed or concentrated, juiced, pickled, canned, steamed,boiled, fried, blanched and/or frozen, etc.

Such a plant part of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL can be stored and/orprocessed further. The disclosure thus also provides for a food or feedproducts comprising one or more of such parts, such as canned, chopped,cooked, roasted, in a sauce, in a sandwich, pasted, pureed orconcentrated, juiced, frozen, dried, pickled, or powdered lettuce headsor leaves from variety NUN 09111 LTL or from progeny of said variety, orfrom a derived variety, such as a plant having all or all but one, two,or three of the physiological and/or morphological characteristics oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides for a lettuce head or leaf ofvariety NUN 09111 LTL, or a part of a head or leaf of said variety. Thehead or leaf can be in any stage of maturity, for example, immature ormature. In another aspect, the disclosure provides for a containercomprising or consisting of a plurality of harvested lettuce heads orleaves or parts of lettuce heads or leaves of said variety, or lettuceheads or leaves of progeny thereof, or lettuce heads or leaves of aderived variety.

Marketable lettuce heads or leaves are generally sorted by size andquality after harvest. Alternatively, the lettuce heads or leaves can besorted by leaf size, shape, texture, glossiness, or color.

In another aspect, the plant, plant part, or seed of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL is inside or more containers. For example, the disclosureprovides containers such as cans, boxes, crates, bags, cartons, ModifiedAtmosphere Packaging Films (e.g., biodegradable films), etc. comprisinga plant or part of a plant (fresh and/or processed) or seed of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL. In a particular aspect, the container comprises aplurality of seeds of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, or a plurality ofplant parts of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

The disclosure further relates to a lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, whichwhen compared to Reference Variety has the following distinguishingcharacteristics as shown in Table 5: 1) ______: 2) ______: 3) ______; 4)______; 5) ______; and 6) ______, when the characteristics aredetermined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the sameenvironmental conditions. Also encompassed are parts of that plant.

In one aspect, a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL or a progenyplant thereof comprises all of the morphological and/or physiologicalcharacteristics (i.e., average values, as indicated on the USDAObjective Description of variety—lettuce (unless indicated otherwise))as shown in Tables 1-4, when the characteristics are determined at the5% significance level for plants grown under the same environmentalconditions. A part of this plant is also provided.

The disclosure further provides a lettuce plant which does not differfrom the physiological and morphological characteristics of the plant oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, as determined at the 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, or5% significance level, when grown under the same environmentalconditions. In a particular aspect, the plants are measured in the sametrial (e.g., the trial is conducted as recommended by the USDA or UPOV).The disclosure also comprises part of said plant, preferably a leaf or apart thereof.

In another aspect, a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, a partthereof, or a progeny thereof comprises resistance to Downy Mildew(Bremia lactutae) isolates Bl:16-35 EU and Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV),measured according to UPOV standards described in TG/13/11 and as shownin Table 4.

The disclosure also provides a tissue or cell culture comprisingregenerable cells of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. Such tissue culturecan, for example, be grown on plates or in liquid culture or be frozenfor long term storage. The cells of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL usedto start the culture can be any plant part suitable for vegetativereproduction, or, in a particular aspect, can be one or more of: anembryo, a meristem, a cotyledon, a hypocotyl, pollen, a leaf, an anther,a root, a root tip, a petiole, a flower, a fruit, a seed, or a stem. Inanother particular aspect, the tissue culture does not containsomaclonal variation or has reduced somaclonal variation. The skilledperson is familiar with methods to reduce or prevent somaclonalvariation, including regular reinitiation.

In one aspect, the disclosure provides a lettuce plant regenerated fromthe tissue or cell culture of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, wherein theregenerated plant is not different from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL inall, or all but one, two or three, of the physiological andmorphological characteristics (determined at the 5% significance levelwhen grown under the same environmental conditions. Optionally, theplant has one, two, or three physiological or morphologicalcharacteristic that is different from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL,wherein the difference or modification is effected by mutation ortransformation with a transgene.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a lettuce plant regeneratedfrom the tissue or cell culture of variety NUN 09111 LTL, wherein theplant has all or all but one, two or three of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of said variety determined at the 5%significance level when grown under the same environmental conditions.Similarity or difference of a characteristic is determined by measuringthe characteristics of a representative number of plants grown under thesame environmental conditions, determining whether type/degreecharacteristics are the same and determining whether numericalcharacteristics are different at the 5% significance level.

Lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, or its progeny, or a plant having allphysiological and/or morphological characteristics or all but one, two,or three which are different from those of lettuce variety NUN 09111LTL, can also be reproduced using vegetative reproduction methods.Therefore, the disclosure provides for a method of producing a plant orplant part of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, comprising vegetativereproduction of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. Vegetative propagationcomprises regenerating a whole plant from a plant part of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL or from a progeny or from a plant having all ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of said variety orall but one, two, or three different characteristics, such as a cutting,a cell culture, or a tissue culture.

The disclosure also provides methods of vegetatively propagating a partof the plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL. In certain aspects, the methodcomprises: (a) cultivating tissue or cells capable of being propagatedfrom lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL to obtain proliferated shoots; and(b) rooting said proliferated shoots, to obtain rooted plantlets. Steps(a) and (b) may also be reversed, i.e., first cultivating said tissue toobtain roots and then cultivating the tissue to obtain shoots, therebyobtaining rooted plantlets. The rooted plantlets may then be furthergrown, to obtain plant. In one aspect, the method further comprises (c)growing plants from said rooted plantlets. Therefore, the method alsocomprises regenerating a whole plant from a part of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL. In a particular aspect, the part to be propagated is acutting, a cell culture, or a tissue culture.

The disclosure also provides for a vegetatively propagated plant ofvariety NUN 09111 LTL (or from progeny of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTLor from a plant having all but one, two, or three of the physiologicaland/or morphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL),wherein the plant has all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL when thecharacteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plantsgrown under the same environmental conditions. In another aspect, thepropagated plant has all but one, two, or three of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL when thecharacteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plantsgrown under the same environmental conditions. A part of said propagatedplant or said propagated plant with one, two, or three differences isalso provided.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method for producing aplant part, preferably a head or a leaf, comprising growing a plant oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL until it develops at least one leaf ordevelops a head, and optionally collecting the head or leaf. Preferably,the head or leaf is collected at harvest maturity. In another aspect,the leaf is collected at baby leaf stage. A plant of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL can be produced by seeding directly in the soil (e.g., field)or by germinating the seeds in controlled environment conditions (e.g.,greenhouses, hydroponic cultures, etc.) and optionally transplanting theseedlings into the field (see, e.g., Gonai et al., J. of Exp. Bot.,55(394): 111, 2004; http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/7215.pdf;http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/7216.pdf). Lettuce may also be grown intunnels. Moreover, said variety can be grown in hydroponic cultures asdescribed in, e.g., US 2008/0222949,which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety, and the skilled person is familiar withvarious types of hydroponic cultures. Alternatively, seed of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL may be grown on peat block for use as root balllettuce. Furthermore, said variety may be combined with 1, 2 or 3different lettuce varieties to be grown as “composite lettuce” (see,e.g., EP 1197137, which is herein incorporated by reference in itsentirety).

The disclosure also provides a method for developing a lettuce plant ina breeding program, using a lettuce plant described herein, or its partsas a source of plant breeding material. Suitable plant breedingtechniques are recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding,mass selection, mutation breeding, genetic marker enhanced selection,and/or genetic transformation. In one aspect, the method comprisescrossing lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL or progeny of said variety, or aplant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (e.g., aslisted in Tables 1-4) with a different lettuce plant, and wherein one ormore offspring of the crossing are subject to one or more plant breedingtechniques: recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding, massselection, mutation breeding, genetic marker enhanced selection, genetictransformation (see, e.g., Brotman et al., Theor Appl Genet (2002)104:1055-1063). For breeding methods in general, see, e.g., Principlesof Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2007, George Acquaah, BlackwellPublishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4.

In still another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of producing alettuce plant, comprising crossing a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111LTL with a second lettuce plant at least once, allowing the seed todevelop and optionally harvesting said progeny seed. The skilled personcan select a progeny lettuce plant from said crossing. Optionally, theprogeny (grown from the progeny seed) is crossed twice, thrice, or four,six or seven times, and allowed to set seed. In one aspect, the first“crossing” further comprises planting seeds of a first and a secondparent lettuce plant, often in proximity so that pollination will occur;for example, mediated by insect vectors. Alternatively, pollen can betransferred manually. Where the plant is self-pollinated, pollinationmay occur without the need for direct human intervention other thanplant cultivation. After pollination, the plant can produce seed.

The disclosure also provides a method for collecting pollen of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL, comprising collecting pollen from a plant ofvariety NUN 09111 LTL. Alternatively, the method comprises growing aplant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL until at least one flowercontains pollen and collecting the pollen. In a particular aspect, thepollen is collected when it is mature or ripe. A suitable method forcollecting pollen comprises collecting anthers or the part of the antherthat contains pollen, for example, by cutting the anther or the part ofthe anther off. Pollen can be collected in a container. Optionally,collected pollen can be used to pollinate a lettuce flower.

In yet another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of producing alettuce plant, comprising selfing a plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL oneor more times, and selecting a progeny plant from said selfing. In oneaspect, the progeny plant retains all or all but one, two, or three ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of lettuce varietyNUN 09111 LTL when grown under the same environmental conditions. In adifferent aspect, the progeny plant comprises all (or all but one, twoor three) of the physiological and morphological characteristic oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL of Tables 1-4.

In other aspects, the disclosure provides for a progeny plant of varietyNUN 09111 LTL such as a progeny plant obtained by further breeding oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. Further breeding with said varietyincludes selfing and/or cross-pollinating lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTLwith another lettuce plant or variety one or more times. In particular,the disclosure provides for a progeny plant that retains all themorphological and physiological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL or, in another aspect, progeny that retain all or all but one,two or three of the morphological and physiological characteristics oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, optionally all or all but one, two orthree of the morphological and physiological characteristics listed inTables 1-4, determined at the 5% significance level for numericalcharacteristics, when grown under the same environmental conditions.

The morphological and/or physiological differences between two differentindividual plants described herein (e.g., between lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL and a progeny of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL) or between aplant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL or progeny of said variety, or aplant having all, or all but 1, 2, or 3 of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (or all,or all but 1, 2, or 3 of the characteristics as listed in Tables 1-4)and another known variety can easily be established by growing saidvariety next to the each other or next to the other variety (e.g., inthe same field, under the same environmental conditions), preferably inseveral locations which are suitable for said lettuce cultivation, andmeasuring morphological and/or physiological characteristics of a numberof plants (e.g., to calculate an average value and to determine thevariation range/uniformity within the variety). For example, trials canbe carried out in Acampo C A, USA (N 38 degrees 07′ 261″/W 121 degrees18′ 807″, USA), whereby various characteristics, for example, maturity,leaf shape, size and texture, leaf color and glossiness, bolt shape,surface and length, flower size and color, head weight, diseaseresistance, insect resistance, and resistance to physiological stresscan be measured and directly compared for species of lettuce. Thus, thedisclosure comprises a lettuce plant having one, two, or three of thephysiological and/or morphological characteristics which are differentfrom those of the plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, and whichotherwise has all of the physiological and morphological characteristicsof the plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, when determined at the 5%significance level for plants grown under the same environmentalconditions. In one aspect, the different characteristic(s) is/are aresult of breeding with lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL and selection of aprogeny plant comprising one, two, or three characteristics which aredifferent than in lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. In another aspect, thedifferent characteristic is the result of a mutation (e.g., spontaneousmutation or a human induced mutation through e.g., targeted mutagenesisor traditional mutagenesis such as chemically or radiation inducedmutagenesis), or it is the result of transformation.

The morphological and physiological characteristics (and thedistinguishing characteristics) of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL areprovided, for example, in Tables 1-4. Encompassed herein is also a plantobtainable from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (e.g., by selfing and/orcrossing and/or backcrossing with said variety and/or progeny of saidvariety) comprising all or all but one, two or three of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL listed in Tables 1-4 as determined at the 5% significancelevel for numerical characteristics or identical for non-numericalcharacteristics when grown under the same environmental conditionsand/or comprising one or more (or all; or all except one, two or three)when grown under the same environmental conditions. The morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics may vary somewhat with variation inthe environment (e.g., temperature, light intensity, day length,humidity, soil, fertilizer use), which is why a comparison under thesame environmental conditions is preferred. Colors can best be measuredagainst the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chart. Also, at-harvestand/or post-harvest characteristics of heads or leaves can be compared,such as cold storage holding quality, post-harvest leaf crispness andleaf browning or pinking after cutting can be measured using knownmethods.

In still another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of producing aplant derived from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, comprising crossing aplant of variety NUN 09111 LTL either as a male or female parent with asecond plant or selfing lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL or vegetativereproduction of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL and collecting seeds fromsaid crossing or selfing or regenerating a whole plant from thevegetative cell-or tissue culture. Also provided are seeds and/or plantsobtained by this method.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method a producing a hybridlettuce seed comprising crossing a first parent lettuce plant with asecond parent lettuce plant and harvesting the resultant seed, in whichthe first parent lettuce plant or second parent lettuce plant is lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL. Also provided is a hybrid lettuce seed producedfrom crossing a first parent lettuce plant with a second parent lettuceplant and harvesting the resultant hybrid lettuce seed, wherein saidfirst parent lettuce plant or second parent lettuce plant is lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL. In a further aspect, the hybrid lettuce plantproduce from the hybrid lettuce seed is provided.

In yet another aspect, the disclosure provides for a method of producinga new lettuce plant. The method comprises crossing lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL, or a plant of comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 of themorphological and physiological characteristics of said lettuce variety(as listed in Tables 1-4), or a progeny plant thereof, either as male oras female parent, with a second lettuce plant (or a wild relative oflettuce) one or more times, and/or selfing a lettuce plant of varietyNUN 09111 LTL, or a progeny plant thereof, one or more times, andselecting progeny from said crossing and/or selfing. The second lettuceplant may, for example, be a line or variety of the species Lactucasativa, or other Lactuca species. In further aspects, the methodcomprises growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from saidseed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation and crossing theprogeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or a second plantand repeating the steps for an additional 3-10 generations to produce aplant derived from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. The plant derived fromlettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL may be an inbred line and theaforementioned repeating crossing steps may be defined as comprisingsufficient inbreeding to produce the inbred line. By selecting plantshaving one or more desirable traits, a plant derived from lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL is obtained which has some of the desirable traitsof the line as well as potentially other selected traits.

In another aspect, a seed of inbred variety NUN 09111 LTL is obtainableby selfing the variety and harvesting the seeds produced. The resultantseeds can be grown to produce plants of said variety.

The disclosure provides for methods of producing plants which retain allthe morphological and physiological characteristics of a plant describedherein. The disclosure also provides for methods of producing a plantcomprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (e.g., aslisted in Tables 1-4), but which are still genetically closely relatedto said variety. The relatedness can, for example, be determined byfingerprinting techniques (e.g., making use of isozyme markers and/ormolecular markers such as Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers,amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers, microsatellites,minisatellites, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers,restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers and others). Aplant is “closely related” to lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL if its DNAfingerprint is at least 80%, 90%, 95% or 98% identical to thefingerprint of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. In a particular aspect,AFLP markers are used for DNA fingerprinting (see, e.g., Vos et al.1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23: 4407-4414). A closely related plant mayhave a Jaccard's Similarity index of at least about 0.95 or 0.96 or more(see, e.g., “Guidelines for the Handling of a Dispute on EssentialDerivation in Lettuce” at worldseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Guidelines EDV_Lettuce_2004.pdf). the disclosure also provides a plantand a variety obtained or selected by applying these methods on lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL. Such a plant may be produced by crossing and/orselfing, or alternatively, a plant may simply be identified and selectedamongst plants of said variety, or progeny of said variety, e.g., byidentifying a variant within lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL or progeny ofsaid variety (e.g., produced by selfing) which variant differs fromlettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL in one, two or three of the morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics (e.g., characteristics listed inTables 1-4). In one aspect, the disclosure provides a plant of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL having a Jaccard's Similarity index with saidvariety of at least 0.95, 0.96, 0.97, 0.98 or even at least 0.99.

In some aspects, the disclosure provides a lettuce plant comprisinggenomic DNA having at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identitycompared to the genomic DNA sequence of a plant of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL as deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43496. In someaspects, the lettuce plant further comprises all or all but one, two, orthree of the physiological and morphological characteristics of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL (e.g., as listed in Tables 1-4). In other aspects,the lettuce plant comprises the distinguishing characteristics oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

For the purpose of this disclosure, the “sequence identity” ornucleotide sequences, expressed as a percentage, refers to the number ofpositions in the two optimally aligned sequences which have identicalresidues (×100) divided by the number of positions compared. A gap,i.e., a position in the pairwise length where a residue is present inone sequence but not in the other, is regarded as a position withnon-identical residues. A pairwise global sequence alignment of twonucleotide sequences is found by aligning the two consequences over theentire length according to the Needleman and Wunsch global alignmentalgorithm described in Needleman and Wunsch, 1970, J. Mol. Bio.48(3):443-53. A full implementation of the Needleman-Wunsch globalalignment algorithm is found in the needle program in The EuropeanMolecular Biology Open Software (see, EMBOSS, Rice, et. al., Trends inGenetics, June 2000, 16(6):276-77).

By crossing and/or selfing also (one or more), single traits may beintroduced into, or modified in, lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (e.g.,using backcrossing breeding schemes), while retaining the remainingmorphological and physiological characteristics of said variety and/orwhile retaining one or more or all distinguishing characteristics. Asingle trait converted plant may thereby be produced. For example,disease resistance genes may be introduced, genes responsible for one ormore quality traits, yield, etc. Both single genes (e.g., dominant orrecessive) and one or more QTLs (quantitative trait loci) may betransferred into lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL by breeding with saidvariety.

Any pest or disease resistance genes may be introduced into lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL, progeny of said variety, or into a plantcomprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (e.g., aslisted in Tables 1-4). Resistance to one or more of the followingdiseases or pests may be introduced into the plant described herein:Rhizomonas suberifaciens (Corky root rot), Bremia lactutae (Downymildew), Erysiphe cichoracearum f sp. lactutae (Powdery mildew),Sclerotinia minor and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lettuce Drop),Pseudomonas spp. (Bacterial Soft Rot), Botrytis cinerea (Grey Mold),Verticillium dahlia (Verticillium Wilt), Xanthomonas spp. (BacterialLeaf Spot), Microdochium panattonianum (Anthracnose), Fusarium oxysporumf. sp. lactutae, Rhizoctonia solani (Bottom Rot), Cabbage Loopers,Lettuce Root Aphid, Myzus persicae (Green Peach Aphid), Liriomyza langei(Pea Leafminer), Liriomyza trifolii (Serpentine Leafminer), Liriomyzasativae (Vegetable Leafminer), Foxglove Aphid, Potato Aphid, BeetArmyworm, Bemisia argentifolii (Silver Whitefly), and/or Aster Yellows.Other resistance genes, against pathogenic viruses (e.g., MirafioriLettuce Big Vein Virus (LMBVV), Lettuce Infectious Yellows Virus (LIYV),Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV), Lettuce Necrotic Stunt Virus (LNSV),Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus (Dieback), TomatoSpotted Wilt Virus (TSWV), Turnip Mosaic Virus, Beet Western YellowsVirus (BWYV), Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV)), fungi, bacteria, nematodes,insects or other pests may also be introduced. In one aspect, resistanceagainst Nasonovia ribisnigri biotype Nr:0 and/or Nr:1 maybe introducedinto the plant disclosed herein. Also, any resistances to physiologicalstresses may be introduced into the plant described herein, or progenythereof or into a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of themorphological and physiological characteristics of said plant (e.g., aslisted in Tables 1-4). Resistance against one or more of the followingmay be introduced into the plant described herein: Tip burn, Heat,Drought, Cold, Salt and/or Brown rob (Rib Discoloration/Rib Blight).

In one aspect, a plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL may also bemutated (by e.g., irradiation, chemical mutagenesis, heat treatment,etc.) and mutated seeds or plants may be selected in order to change oneor more characteristics of said variety. Methods such as TILLING may beapplied to lettuce populations in order to identify mutants.

Similarly, lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL may be transformed andregenerated, whereby one or more chimeric genes are introduced into thevariety or into a plant comprising all but one, two, or three of thephysiological and morphological characteristics (e.g., as listed inTables 1-4). Transformation can be carried out using standard methods,such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation or biolistic,followed by selection of the transformed cells and regeneration intoplants. A desired trait (e.g., gene(s) conferring pest or diseaseresistance, herbicide, fungicide or insecticide tolerance, etc.) can beintroduced into lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, or progeny of saidvariety, by transforming said variety or progeny of said variety with atransgene that confers the desired trait, wherein the transformed plantretains all or all but one, two or three of the phenotypic and/ormorphological and/or physiological characteristics of lettuce varietyNUN 09111 LTL or the progeny of said variety and contains the desiredtrait, wherein the desired trait is yield, nutritional value, taste,color, crunchiness, male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insectresistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stresstolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism, or modified proteinmetabolism or the mutation occurs in any of the following genes:Ferulate-5-hydrxylase, dmr1, dmr6, NCED4, PAL, PPO.

The disclosure also provides a method of producing a plant of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL having a desired trait, comprising mutating aplant or plant part of variety NUN 09111 LTL and selecting a plant thedesired trait, wherein the mutated plant retains all or all but one ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of said variety,optionally as described Tables 1-4, and contains the desired trait, andwherein a representative sample of seed of variety NUN 09111 LTL hasbeen deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43496. In a further aspect,the desired trait is yield, nutritional value, taste, color,crunchiness, male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance,pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stress tolerance,modified carbohydrate metabolism, or modified protein metabolism, or themutation occurs in any of the following genes: Ferulate-5-hydrxylase,dmr1, dmr6, NCED4, PAL, PPO.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method for inducing amutation in lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL comprising:

-   -   a. exposing the seed, plant, plant part, or cell of lettuce        variety NUN 09111 LTL to a mutagenic compound or to radiation,        wherein a representative sample of seed of said variety has been        deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43496;    -   b. selecting the seed, plant, or plant part or cell of lettuce        variety NUN 09111 LTL having a mutation; and    -   c. optionally growing and/or multiplying the seed, plant, plant        part, or cell of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL having the        mutation.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of producing alettuce plant having a desired trait, wherein the method comprisestransforming the lettuce plant with a transgene that confers the desiredtrait, wherein the transformed plant otherwise retains all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of varietyNUN 09111 LTL and contains the desired trait. Thus, a transgenic lettuceplant is provided which is produced by the method described above,wherein the plant comprises the desired trait and all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of varietyNUN 09111 LTL.

The disclosure also provides a plant having one, two, or threephysiological and/or morphological characteristics which are differentfrom those of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, and which otherwise has allof the physiological and morphological characteristics of said variety,wherein a representative sample of seed of said variety has beendeposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43496. In particular, variantswhich differ from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL in none, one, two, orthree of the characteristics mentioned in Tables 1-4 are encompassed.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of introducing asingle locus conversion, a single trait conversion, or a desired traitinto lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, comprising:

-   -   a. obtaining a combination of parental lines of lettuce variety        NUN 09111 LTL, optionally through reverse synthesis of breeding        lines;    -   b. introducing a single locus conversion, a single trait        conversion, or a desired trait in at least one of the parents of        step a); and    -   c. crossing the converted parent with the other parent of        step a) to obtain seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.

In another aspect, a combination of a male and a female parental line oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL can be generated by methods describedherein, for example, through reverse synthesis of breeding lines.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of introducing asingle locus conversion, a single trait conversion, or a desired traitinto lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, comprising introducing a singlelocus conversion, a single trait conversion, or a desired trait in atleast one of the parents of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, and crossingthe converted parent with the other parent of lettuce variety NUN 09111LTL, to obtain seed of said variety.

In another aspect, introducing a single locus conversion, a single traitconversion, or a desired trait in at least one of the parent plantscomprises:

-   -   a. obtaining a cell or tissue culture of cells of the parental        line of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL;    -   b. genetically transforming or mutating said cells;    -   c. growing the cells into a plant; and    -   d. optionally selecting a plant that contains the desired single        locus conversion, single trait conversion, or the desired trait.

In another aspect, the step of introducing a single locus conversion, asingle trait conversion, or a desired trait in at least one of theparent plants comprises:

-   -   a. crossing the parental line of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL,        with a second lettuce plant comprising the single locus        conversion, the single trait conversion, or the desired trait;    -   b. selecting F1 progeny plants that contain the single locus        conversion, the single trait conversion, or the desired trait.    -   c. crossing said selected progeny plants of step b) with the        parental line of step a) to produce a backcross progeny plant;    -   d. selecting backcross progeny plants comprising the single        locus conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired        trait and otherwise all or all but one, two, or three of the        physiological and morphological characteristics of the parental        line of step a) to produce selected backcross progeny plants;        and    -   e. optionally repeating steps c) and d) one or more times in        succession to produce selected second, third, or fourth, or        higher backcross progeny plants comprising the single locus        conversion, the single trait conversion, or the desired trait        and otherwise all or all but one, two, or three of the        physiological and morphological characteristics of the parental        line of step a) to produce selected backcross progeny plants,        when grown in the same environmental conditions.

The disclosure further relates to plants obtained by this method.

In any of the above methods, wherein the single locus conversionconcerns a trait, the trait may be yield or pest resistance, or diseaseresistance. In one aspect, the trait is disease resistance and theresistance is conferred to Rhizomonas suberifaciens (Corky root rot),Bremia lactutae (Downy mildew), Erysiphe cichoracearum f. sp. lactutae(Powdery mildew), Sclerotinia minor and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum(Lettuce Drop), Pseudomonas spp. (Bacterial Soft Rot), Botrytis cinerea(Grey Mold), Verticillium dahlia (Verticillium Wilt), Xanthomonas spp.(Bacterial Leaf Spot), Microdochium panattonianum (Anthracnose),Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lactutae, Rhizoctonia solani (Bottom Rot),Cabbage Loopers, Lettuce Root Aphid, Myzus persicae (Green Peach Aphid),Liriomyza langei (Pea Leafminer), Liriomyza trifolii (SerpentineLeafminer), Liriomyza sativae (Vegetable Leafminer), Foxglove Aphid,Potato Aphid, Beet Armyworm, Bemisia argentifolii (Silver Whitefly),and/or Aster Yellows. Other resistance genes, against pathogenic viruses(e.g., Mirafiori Lettuce Big Vein Virus (LMBVV), Lettuce InfectiousYellows Virus (LIYV), Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV), Lettuce Necrotic StuntVirus (LNSV), Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus(Dieback), Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV), Turnip Mosaic Virus, BeetWestern Yellows Virus (BWYV), Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV)), fungi,bacteria, nematodes, insects or other pests may also be introduced. Inone aspect, resistance against Nasonovia ribisnigri biotype Nr:0 and/orNr:1 maybe introduced into the plant disclosed herein. Also, anyresistances to physiological stresses may be introduced into the plantdescribed herein, or progeny thereof or into a plant comprising all but1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of said plant (e.g., as listed in Tables 1-4).Resistance against one or more of the following may be introduced intothe plant described herein: Tip burn, Heat, Drought, Cold, Salt and/orBrown rob (Rib Discoloration/Rib Blight).

The disclosure also provides methods for determining the identity ofparental lines of the plant described herein, in particular the identityof the female line. US 2015/0126380, which is hereby incorporated byreference, relates to a non-destructive method for analyzing maternalDNA of a seed. In this method, the DNA is dislodged from the seed coatsurface and can be used to collect information on the genome of thematernal parent of the seed. This method for analyzing maternal DNA of aseed, comprises the steps of contacting a seed with a fluid to dislodgeDNA from the seed coat surface, and analyzing the DNA thus dislodgedfrom the seed coat surface using methods known in the art. The skilledperson is thus able to determine whether a seed has grown on a plant ofa plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL is a progeny of said variety,because the seed coat of the seed is a maternal tissue geneticallyidentical to lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. Since lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL is an inbred variety, with a very high degree of homozygosity,any F1 progeny will inherit the same, predictable, set of chromosomesfrom its parent. Thus, the skilled person will also be able to identifymaternal tissues of a seed grown on an F1 progeny of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL, using the methods described in US 2015/0126380. In anotherparticular aspect, the skilled person can determine the identity of thefemale parental line of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL by analyzing theseed coat of a seed of that variety. In another aspect, the skilledperson can determine whether a seed is grown on lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL.

The disclosure also provides a lettuce plant comprising at least a setof first set of the chromosomes of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, asample of seed of said variety has been deposited under Accession NumberNCIMB 43496; optionally further comprising a single locus conversion ormutation, wherein said plant has essentially all of the morphologicaland physiological characteristics of the plant comprising at least afirst set of the chromosomes of said variety. In another aspect, thesingle locus conversion or mutation confers a trait, wherein the traitis yield, nutritional value, taste, color, crunchiness, male sterility,herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, diseaseresistance, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydratemetabolism, or modified protein metabolism.

In one aspect, the disclosure provides for a haploid plant and/or adoubled haploid plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL, or a plant having allbut one, two or three physiological and/or morphological characteristicsof lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, or progeny of said variety. Haploidand doubled haploid (DH) plants can, for example, be produced by cell ortissue culture and chromosome doubling agents and regeneration into awhole plant. DH production chromosome doubling may be induced usingknown methods, such as colchicine treatment or the like. In one aspect,the method comprises inducing a cell or tissue culture with a chromosomedoubling agent and regenerating the cells or tissues into a whole plant.

In another aspect, the disclosure comprises a method for producingdoubled haploid cells of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, comprisingmaking double haploid cells from haploids cells from the plant or plantpart of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL with a chromosome doubling agent,such as colchicine treatment (see, e.g., Nikolova andNiemirowicz-Szczytt (1996) Acta Soc Bot Pol 65:311-317).

In another aspect, the disclosure provides for haploid plants and/ordoubled haploid plants derived from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL that,when combined, make a set of parents of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.The haploid plant and/or the doubled haploid plant of variety NUN 09111LTL can be used in a method for generating parental lines of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL.

The disclosure also relates to a method of producing a combination ofparental lines of a plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL, comprising makingdouble haploid cells from haploid cells form said plant or a seed ofthat plant; and optionally crossing these parental lines to produce andcollect seeds. In another aspect, the disclosure relates to acombination of parental lines produced by this method. In still anotheraspect, the combination of parental lines can be used to produce a seedor plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL, when these parental lines arecrossed. In still another aspect, the disclosure relates to acombination of a parental lines from which a seed or plant having allphysiological and/or morphological characteristics of lettuce varietyNUN 09111 LTL (when the characteristics are determined at the 5%significance level for plants grown under the same environmentalconditions).

The disclosure also provides a combination of parental lines, which whencrossed, produce a seed or plant having all of the physiological and/ormorphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, but one,two, or three which are different (when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions).

Using methods known in the art such as “reverse synthesis of breedinglines” or “reverse breeding”, it is possible to produce parental linesfor a hybrid plant such as lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL. A skilledperson can take any individual heterozygous plant (called a“phenotypically superior plant” in Example 2 of US 2015/0245570 herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety; lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTLis such plant) and generate a combination of parental lines (reversebreeding parental lines) that, when crossed, produce the variety NUN09111 LTL. It is not necessary that the reverse breeding parental linesare identical to the original parental lines. Such new breeding methodsare based on the segregation of individual alleles in the sporesproduced by a desired plant and/or in the progeny derived from theself-pollination of that desired plant, and on the subsequentidentification of suitable progeny plants in one generation, or in alimited number of inbred cycles. Such a method is known from US2015/0245570 or from Wijnker et al., Nature Protocols Volume: 9, Pages:761-772 (2014) DOI: doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.049. Thus, the disclosureprovides a method for producing parental lines for a hybrid organism(e.g., lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL), comprising in one aspect: a)defining a set of genetic markers present in a heterozygous form (H) ina partially heterozygous starting organism; b) producing doubled haploidlines from spores of the starting organism; c) geneticallycharacterizing the doubled haploid lines thus obtained for the said setof genetic markers to determine whether they are present in a firsthomozygous form (A) or in a second homozygous form (B); and d) selectingat least one pair of doubled haploid lines that have complementaryalleles for at least a subset of the genetic markers, wherein eachmember of the pair is suitable as a parental line for the hybridorganism.

In another aspect, the method for producing parental lines for hybridorganisms, e.g., of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, which when crossedreconstitute the genome of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, comprising:

-   -   a. defining a set genetic a) markers that are present a        heterozygous form (H) in a partially heterozygous starting        organism;    -   b. producing at least one further generation from the starting        organism by self-pollination (e.g., F2 or F3 generation);    -   c. selecting at least one pair of progeny organisms in which at        least one genetic marker from the set is present in a        complementary homozygous forms (B vs. A, or A vs. B); and        optionally repeating steps b) and c) until at least one pair of        progeny organisms that have complementary alleles for at least a        subset of the genetic markers has been selected as parental        lines for a hybrid.

Also provided is a plant part obtainable from variety NUN 09111 LTL (orfrom progeny of said variety or from a plant having all but one, two orthree physiological and/or morphological characteristics which aredifferent from those of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL) or from avegetatively propagated plant of variety NUN 09111 LTL (or from itsprogeny or from a plant having all but one, two or three physiologicaland/or morphological characteristics which are different from those oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL), wherein the plant part is a leaf, aharvested leaf, a part of a leaf, a head, a harvested head, a part of ahead, pollen, an ovule, a cell, a petiole, a shoot or a part thereof, astem or a part thereof, a root or a part thereof, a root tip, a cutting,a seed, a part of a seed, seed coat or another maternal tissue which ispart of a seed grown on lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, or a hypocotyl, acotyledon, a pistil, an anther, or a flower or a part thereof.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of determining thegenotype of a plant of the invention comprising the step of detecting inthe genome (e.g., a sample of nucleic acids) of the plant at least afirst polymorphism or an allele. The skilled person is familiar withmany suitable methods of genotyping, detecting a polymorphism ordetecting an allele including SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism)genotyping, restriction fragment length polymorphism identification(RFLP) of genomic DNA, random amplified polymorphic detection (RAPD) ofgenomic DNA, amplified fragment length polymorphism detection (AFLPD),polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing, allele specificoligonucleotide (ASO) probes, and hybridization to DNA microarrays orbeads. Alternatively, the entire genome could be sequenced. The methodmay, in certain aspects, comprise detecting a plurality of polymorphismsin the genome of the plant, for example, by obtaining a sample ofnucleic acid from a plant and detecting in said nucleic acids aplurality of polymorphisms. The method may further comprise storing theresults of the step of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms on acomputer readable medium.

A part of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL (or of progeny of said varietyor of a plant having all physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics but one, two or three which are different from those ofsaid variety) encompasses any cells, tissues, organs obtainable from theseedlings or plants, such as but not limited to: a lettuce head or apart thereof, a leaf or a part thereof, a cutting, hypocotyl, cotyledon,seed coat, pollen and the like. Such parts can be stored and/orprocessed further.

The disclosure further provides for food or feed products comprising apart of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL or a part of progeny of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL, or a part of a plant having all but one, two, orthree of the physiological and morphological characteristics of lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL, comprising one or more of such parts, optionallyprocessed (e.g., canned, chopped, cooked, roasted, in a sauce, in asandwich, pasted, pureed or concentrated, juiced, frozen, dried,pickled, or powdered).

All documents (e.g., patent publications) are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety, including the following cited references:

-   US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service,    “Objective Description of Variety-Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)”,    world wide web at    ams.usda.gov/services/plant-variety-protection/pvpo-c-forms, under    lettuce.-   UPOV, “Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness,    Uniformity and Stability”, TG/13/11 (Geneva 2006, last updated 2017    Apr. 5), world-wide web at upov.int under edocs/tgdocs/en/tg013.pdf.-   Acquaah, G., “Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding”, Blackwell    Publishing, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4.-   Bertier, L. D., et. al., “High-Resolution Analysis of the    Efficiency, Heritability, and Editing Outcomes of    CRISPR/Cas9-Induced Modifications of NCED4 in Lettuce (Lactuca    sativa),” G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 2018, vol. 8, pp. 1513-1521.-   Brotman, Y., et. al., “Resistance Gene Homologues in Melon are    Linked to Genetic Loci Conferring Disease and Pest Resistance”,    Theor Appl Genet, 2002, vol. 104, pp. 1055-1063, DOI    10.1007/s00122-001-0808-x-   Gonai, T., et al., “Abscisic Acid in the Thermoinhibition of Lettuce    Seed Germination and Enhancement of its Catabolism by Gibberellin”,    Journal of Experimental Botany, 2004, vol. 55(394), pp. 111-118.-   Hunter, P. J., et. al., “Oxidative Discolouration in Whole-head and    Cut Lettuce: Biochemical and Environmental Influences on a Complex    Phenotype and Potential Breeding Strategies to Improve Shelf-life,”    Euphytica, 2017, vol. 213(180), DOI 10.1007/s10681-017-1964-7.-   Needleman, S. B., et. al., “A General Method Applicable to the    Search for Similarities in the Amino Acid Sequence of Two Proteins”,    Journal of Molecular Biology, 1970, vol. 48(3), pp. 443-53.-   Nikolova, V., et. al., “Diploidization of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus    L.) Haploids by Colchini Treatment”, Acta Societas Botanicorum    Poloniae, 1996, vol. 65, pp. 311-317.-   Teng, W., et al., “Rapid Regeneration of Lettuce from Suspension    Culture”, HortScience, 1992, vol. 27(9), pp. 1030-1032.-   Teng, W., et al., “Regenerating Lettuce from Suspension Culture in a    2-Liter Bioreactor”, HortScience, 1993, vol. 28(6), pp. 669-671.-   Vos, P., et al., “AFLP: A New Technique for DNA Fingerprinting”,    Nucleic Acids Research, 1995, vol. 23(21), pp. 4407-4414.-   Wijnker, E., et al., “Hybrid Recreation by Reverse breeding in    Arabidopsis thaliana”, Nature Protocols, 2014, vol. 9, pp. 761-772.    DOI: doi: 10.1038/nprot.2014.049-   Zhang, X., et al., “Genotypic Effects on Tissue Culture Response of    Lettuce Cotyledons”, Journal of Genetics and Breeding, 1992, vol.    46, pp. 287-290.-   US 2008/0222949-   EP 1 197 137 A1-   US 2015/0126380-   WO 2017/144669-   WO 2008/092505-   U.S. Pat. No. 8,237,019-   http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/7215.pdf-   http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/7216.pdf-   https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/01-Lettuce %20    ST-470-01%202015.pdf-   https://www.upov.int/edocs/tgdocs/en/tg013.pdf-   http://www.worldseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Guidelines_EDV_Lettuce    2004.pdf

Development of Lettuce Variety NUN 09111 LTL

The inbred variety NUN 09111 LTL was developed from an initial crossbetween lettuce lines based on plant vigor, bolting resistance, andresistance to Bremia lactucae. The female and male parents were crossedto produce seeds. After the cross, progeny was self-pollinated orbackcrossed, followed by pedigree selection and line selection. Lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL can be propagated by seeds or vegetatively, or byregeneration of a tissue culture. The seeds of lettuce variety NUN 09111LTL can be grown to produce inbred plants and parts thereof (e.g.,lettuce heads and leaves).

The Applicant concluded that lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL is uniformand stable. This has been established through evaluation ofhorticultural characteristics. Several seed production events resultedin no observable deviation in genetic stability.

Deposit Information

A total of 2500 seeds of variety NUN 09111 LTL were deposited accordingto the Budapest Treaty by Nunhems B. V. on Feb. 13, 2019 at the NCIMBLtd., Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB219YA, United Kingdom (NCIMB). The deposit has been assigned NCIMB 43496.A statement indicating the viability of the sample has been provided. Adeposit of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL is also maintained at NunhemsB. V. The lot number for lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL is 25451601002.

The deposit will be maintained in NCIMB for a period of 30 years, or 5years after the most recent request, or for the enforceable life of thepatent whichever is longer and will be replaced if it ever becomesnonviable during that period. Access to the deposits will be availableduring the pendency of this application to persons determined by theDirector of the U.S. Patent Office to be entitled thereto upon request.Subject to 37 C.F.R. § 1.808(b), all restrictions imposed by thedepositor on the availability to the public of the deposited materialwill be irrevocably removed upon the granting of the patent. Applicantdoes not waive any rights granted under this patent on this applicationor under the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C. § 2321 et seq.).Accordingly, the requirements of 37 CFR § 1.801-1.809 have beensatisfied.

Characteristics of Lettuce Variety NUN 09111 LTL

The most similar variety to NUN 09111 LTL is referred to as NUN 9055 LT,a variety from Nunhems B. V. with the commercial name Multy.

In Table 1, the characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL areshown based on trials conducted in Salinas, Calif., USA between March toSeptember 2019. For numerical characteristics, averages were calculated.For non-numerical characteristics, the type/degree were determined.

In Tables 2 and 3, a comparison between lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTLand Reference Variety is shown based on a trial in the USA. Triallocation: ______; Transplanting date: ______; Harvesting date: ______.In Table 4, the disease resistances of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL andthe Reference Variety are shown. In Table 5, the distinguishingcharacteristics between lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL and the ReferenceVariety are shown. One replication of 30 plants of each variety, fromwhich at least 15 plants or plant parts were randomly selected and wereused to measure characteristics. For numerical characteristics, averageswere calculated. For non-numerical characteristics, the type/degree weredetermined.

In one aspect, the disclosure provides a plant having all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL as presented in Tables 1-4.

TABLE 1 Characteristics of Lettuce Variety NUN 09111 LTL based onSalinas, USA trials between March to September 2019 Application VarietyCharacteristics (NUN 09111 LTL) Vigour/Size: small volume; normal;Normal to large volume large volume Color: light green, normal green,Green to dark green darker green Closed head: open habit even at Openhabit even at mature mature stage; normal; very closed stage Head shape:not market acceptable; Acceptable acceptable, very nice shape Headhealth: big damage or Normal to no damage or infections infections;normal; no damage or infections Frame: lack of frame, normal, goodNormal to good frame frame Base shape: very veiny or Open, normal baseshoulders, open base; normal and acceptable base; closed base, notshoulders and flat Base health: very sensitive for Strong for basediseases Botr, Scler, Rizoctonia; normal; strong for base diseasesCompactness: loose open; normal; Loose open very compact External tipburn: tip burn; normal; No tip burn no tip burn Internal tip burn: tipburn and No tip burn rotting inside the head; normal; no tip burnBolting resistance: bolting fast; Normal to strong for bolting normal;strong for bolting Average weight (grams): 233 grams Average length ofleaves (cm): 15.67 cm Taste: bitter; normal; sweet Bitter to normalCultural value: below market Acceptable market standard standard;acceptable market standard; improvement of market standard

TABLE 2 Objective Description of Lettuce Variety NUN 09111 LTL and theReference Variety (USDA descriptors) Application Variety ReferenceVariety Characteristics (NUN 09111 LTL) (NUN 9005 LT) Plant type: 1 =Cutting/Leaf; 02 = Butterhead; 03 = Cutting/leaf Cutting/leaf Bibb; 04 =Cos or Romaine; 05 = Great Lakes Group; 06 = Vanguard Group; 07 =Salinas Group; 08 = Eastern (Ithaca) Group; 09 = Stem; 10 = Latin; 11 =Other (Specify) Cotyledon to fourth leaf stage: Length at 4^(th) leaf(mm): Width at 4^(th) leaf (mm): Length/width index of 4^(th) leaf (mm):Apical margin: 1 = Entire; 2 = Crenate/Gnawed; 3 = Finely Dentate; 4 =Moderately Dentate; 5 = Coarsely Dentate; 6 = Incised; 7 = Lobed; 8 =Other Basal margin: Undulation: 1 = Flat; 2 = Slight; 3 = Medium; 4 =Marked Anthocyanin: Distribution: 1 = Absent; 2 = Margin only; 3 =Spotted; 4 = Throughout; 5 = Other (specify) Concentration: 1 = Light; 2= Moderate; 3 = Intense Cupping: 1 = Uncupped; 2 = Slight; 3 = MarkedlyReflexing: 1 = None; 2 = Apical margin; 3 = Lateral margins Matureleaves (harvest-mature outer leaves): Margin: Incision depth (deepestpenetration of the margin): 1 = Absent/Shallow (Dark Green Boston); 2 =Moderate (Vanguard); 3 = Deep (Great Lakes 659) Incision density (onmargin on apical part): 3 = Sparse; 5 = Medium; 7 = Dense; 9 = VeryDense Indentation (finest divisions of the margin): 1 = Entire; 2 =Shallowly Dentate (Great Lake 65); 3 = Deeply Dentate (Great Lake 659);4 = Crenate (Vanguard); 5 = Other (Specify) Undulations of the apicalmargin: 1 = Absent/Slight (Dark Green Boston); 2 = Moderate (Vanguard);3 = Strong (Great Lakes 659) Mature leaf color: Anthocyanin:Concentration: 1 = Light (Iceberg); 2 = Moderate (Prize Head); 3 =Intense (Ruby) Size: 1 = Small; 2 = Medium; 3 = Large Glossiness: 1 =Dull (Vanguard); 2 = Moderate (Salinas); 3 = Glossy (Great Lakes)Blistering: 1 = Absent/Slight (Salinas); 2 = Moderate (Vanguard); 3 =Strong (Prize Head) Leaf thickness: 1 = Thin; 2 = Intermediate; 3 =Thick Trichomes: 1 = Absent (Smooth); 2 = Present (Spiny) Plant: Spreadof frame leaves (cm): Head shape: 1 = Flattened; 2 = Slightly Flattened;3 = Spherical; 4 = Elongate, 5 = Non-heading; 6 = Other (Specify) Headsize class: 1 = Small; 2 = Medium; 3 = Large Head Weight (grams): Headfirmness: 1 = Loose; 2 = Moderate; 3 = Firm; 4 = Very Firm Butt: Shape:1 = Slightly concave; 2 = Flat; 3 = Rounded Midrib: Flattened (Salinas);2 = Moderately raised; 3 = Prominently raised (Great Lakes 659) Core:Diameter at base of head (mm): Ratio of head spread/core diameter:Average core height from base of head to apex (mm): Range of core heightfrom base of head to apex (mm): Maturity: Spring Summer Fall WinterAdaptation: Primary regions of adaptation: 0 = Not Tested; 1 = NotAdapted; 2 = Adapted Southwest (CA and/or AZ desert) West CoastNortheast North Central Southeast Other Season: Adapted Spring AdaptedSummer Adapted Fall Winter

TABLE 3 Objective Description of Lettuce Variety NUN 09111 LTL and theReference Variety (Non-USDA descriptors) Application Variety ReferenceVariety Characteristics (NUN 09111 LTL) (NUN 9005 LT)      

TABLE 4 Disease Resistance of Lettuce Variety NUN 09111 LTL and theReference Variety Application Variety Reference Variety Characteristics(NUN 09111 LTL) (NUN 9005 LT) Bremia lactucae (Downy Mildew) Not tested,Absent, Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:1 Present Absent Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:2 Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:4Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:5 Present Absent Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:6 Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:17Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:10 Present Absent Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:12 Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:13Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:14 Present Absent Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:15 Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:16Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:17 Present Present Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:18 Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:20Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:21 Present Present Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:22 Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:23Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:24 Present Present Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:25 Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:26Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:27 Present Absent Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:28 Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:29Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:30 Present Absent Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:31 Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:32Present Present Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:33 Present Absent Bremialactucae Isolate Bl:34 Present Absent Bremia lactucae Isolate Bl:35Present Absent Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV) Present Absent Pathotype IINot tested, Absent, Present Lettuce Root Aphids Absent Absent Absent,Present Nasonovia ribisnigri (Nr) Absent Absent Not tested, Absent,Present Nasonovia ribisnigri (Nr) Absent Absent Biotype Nr:0 Absent,Present Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Absent Absent lactucae Race 1 Nottested, Susceptible, Moderately Resistant, Highly Resistant Otherresistances:

TABLE 5 Distinguishing Characteristics between Lettuce Variety NUN 09111LTL and the Reference Variety Application Variety Reference VarietyCharacteristics (NUN 09111 LTL) (NUN 9005 LT)      

1. A plant, plant part, or seed of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL,wherein a representative sample of seed of said variety has beendeposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43496. 2. The plant part of claim1, wherein the plant part is a head, a leaf, pollen, an ovule, a fruit,a scion, a rootstock, a cutting, a flower, or a cell.
 3. A seed thatproduces the plant of claim
 1. 4. A seed grown on the plant of claim 1.5. A lettuce plant grown from the seed of claim
 4. 6. A lettuce plant ora part thereof having all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of the plant of claim
 1. 7. A lettuce plant or a partthereof which does not differ from the plant of claim 1 in all of thecharacteristics listed in Tables 1-4, when the numerical characteristicsare determined at the 5% significance level when grown under the sameenvironmental conditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed oflettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL has been deposited under Accession NumberNCIMB
 43496. 8. A tissue or cell culture of regenerable cells of theplant of claim
 1. 9. The tissue or cell culture according to claim 8,comprising cells or protoplasts derived from a plant part suitable forvegetative reproduction, wherein the plant part is an embryo, ameristem, a cotyledon, a hypocotyl, pollen, a leaf, an anther, a root, aroot tip, a pistil, a petiole, a flower, a fruit, a seed, a stem, or astalk.
 10. A lettuce plant regenerated from the tissue or cell cultureof claim 8, wherein the plant has all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111LTL, when the numerical characteristics are determined at the 5%significance level for plants grown under the same environmentalconditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed of said lettucevariety has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43496. 11. Amethod of producing of the plant of claim 1, or a part thereof, saidmethod comprising vegetative propagation of the plant of lettuce varietyNUN 09111 LTL, wherein a representative sample of seed of said lettucevariety has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43496. 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein said vegetative propagation comprisesregenerating a whole plant from a part of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL,wherein a representative sample of seed of said lettuce variety has beendeposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43496. 13. The method of claim11, wherein said part is a cutting, a cell culture, or a tissue culture.14. A vegetative propagated plant of claim 1, or a part thereof, whereinthe plant has all of the physiological and morphological characteristicsof lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, when the numerical characteristics aredetermined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under the sameenvironmental conditions.
 15. A method of producing a lettuce plant,said method comprising crossing the plant of claim 1 with itself or asecond lettuce plant at least once, and selecting a progeny lettuceplant from said crossing and allowing the progeny lettuce plant to formseed.
 16. A first generation progeny of the lettuce plant of claim 1obtained by crossing the plant of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL withitself or another lettuce plant, wherein the progeny plant has all ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of lettuce varietyNUN 09111 LTL, wherein a representative sample of seed of said lettucevariety has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43496. 17. Amethod of producing a F1 hybrid lettuce seed, said method comprisingcrossing two a first parent lettuce plant with a second parent lettuceplant and harvesting the resultant hybrid lettuce seed, wherein at thefirst parent lettuce plant or second parent lettuce plant is the plantof claim
 1. 18. A F1 hybrid lettuce seed produced by the method of claim17.
 19. An F1 hybrid lettuce plant or part thereof, produced by growingthe seed of claim
 18. 20. A food, a feed, or a processed productcomprising the plant part of claim
 2. 21. A container comprising theplant, plant part, or seed of claim
 1. 22. A method of introducing adesired trait into the plant of claim 1, said method comprisestransforming the plant of claim 1 with a transgene that confers thedesired trait, wherein the desired trait is yield, storage properties,color, enhanced nutritional quality, male sterility, herbicidetolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance,environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism, ormodified protein metabolism or the mutation occurs in any of thefollowing genes: Ferulate-5-hydrxylase, dmr1, dmr6, NCED4, PAL, PPO. 23.A lettuce plant produced by the method of claim 22, wherein thetransformed plant otherwise retains all of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL andcontains the desired trait.
 24. A method of introducing a single locusconversion into the plant of claim 1 comprising: a. crossing the plantof claim 1 with a second lettuce plant comprising a desired single locusto produce F1 progeny plants; b. selecting F1 progeny plants that havethe single locus to produce selected F1 progeny plants; c. crossing theselected F1 progeny plants with lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL to producebackcross progeny plants; d. selecting backcross progeny plants thathave the single locus and otherwise comprise all of the physiologicaland morphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL toproduce selected backcross progeny plants; and e. repeating steps (c)and (d) one or more times in succession to produce selected second orhigher backcross progeny plants that comprise the single locus andotherwise comprise all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL, wherein arepresentative sample of seed of said variety has been deposited underAccession Number NCIMB
 43496. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein thesingle locus confers yield, storage properties, color, enhancednutritional quality, male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insectresistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stresstolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism, or modified proteinmetabolism or the mutation occurs in any of the following genes:Ferulate-5-hydrxylase, dmr1, dmr6, NCED4, PAL, PPO.
 26. A lettuce plantproduced by the method of claim 24, wherein the plant further comprisesa single locus conversion and has otherwise all of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL.
 27. Amethod of producing a modified lettuce plant, said method comprisingmutating a target gene in lettuce plant or plant part of lettuce varietyNUN 09111 LTL, wherein a representative sample of seed of said varietyhas been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43496. 28. The method ofclaim 27, wherein the target gene confers a desired trait and whereinthe desired trait is yield, storage properties, color, male sterility,herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, diseaseresistance, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydratemetabolism, or modified protein metabolism or the mutation occurs in anyof the following genes: Ferulate-5-hydrxylase, dmr1, dmr6, NCED4, PAL,PPO.
 29. The method of claim 27, wherein the target gene is mutated bytargeted gene editing.
 30. A modified lettuce plant produced by themethod of claim 27, wherein the plant has otherwise all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of lettuce variety NUN09111 LTL and contains the desired trait.
 31. A method for determiningthe genotype of the plant of claim 1, said method comprising obtaining asample of nucleic acids from said plant and detecting in said nucleicacids a plurality of polymorphisms, thereby determining the genotype ofthe plant and storing the results of detecting the plurality ofpolymorphisms on a computer readable medium.
 32. A method for developinga lettuce plant in a lettuce breeding program, said method comprisingapplying plant breeding techniques comprising recurrent selection,backcrossing, pedigree breeding, mass selection, mutation breeding,genetic marker enhanced selection, or genetic transformation to theplant of claim 1 or part thereof.
 33. A method of producing a lettuceplant derived from the plant of claim 1 comprising: a. preparing aprogeny lettuce plant derived from lettuce variety NUN 09111 LTL bycrossing the plant of claim 1 with itself or with a second lettuceplant; b. crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second lettuceplant to produce seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation; c.growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said seed andcrossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or asecond lettuce plant; and d. repeating step (b) and/or (c) for at leastone more generation to produce a lettuce plant derived from lettucevariety NUN 09111 LTL.